


Waves within the Sun

by ChampionLance (RivalSilver)



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe, Corrin's a mermaid, F/M, Fluff and Humor, MerMay, Silas is a fisherman LOL, mermaid au, rly something for fun, short series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-02-27 15:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18741811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RivalSilver/pseuds/ChampionLance
Summary: In an attempt to ease himself through war times, Silas turns to his serene hobby of watching the lovely sunset. Until one day, the sun isn't the only thing he finds to be lovely. AU.





	1. Submerging Waves

**Author's Note:**

> I thought about this in my car as I was waiting for class the other day, so I typed a little bit up and fixed it the best I could when I got to my MacBook. but anyways- a lil sumn for mermay, mermaid au where Silas is a fisherman and corry is the mermaid. im still debating on if she should talk or not tho. [thinking emoji]
> 
> also I do apologize, my writing has lacked in skill because I do nothing but write research papers nowadays T-T but I'm hoping to get back on track. ❤️ thank you for reading and enjoy! I'd appreciate feedback too - they motivate me! :)

Silas feels like he can’t be freed from administrative clutches.

He can’t take the stress of the current political environment. Each and every day,  _everywhere_ he turns, propaganda is pasted left and right, slipped casually into general conversation, and the recruits perpetually bombard the streets with drafts to defend their kingdom – a kingdom that’s been plummeted into such a devastating and incompetent war with the neighboring kingdom.

The kingdom’s monarchs had promised that no more blood would be shed of its citizens. 

It’s a shame. For the first time in his life, Silas feels like a complete idiot, and the hope he’s been clinging onto with being able to view Nohr in anything _but_ wretched crumbles with each day, as he’s greeted with the army’s half-assed attempt at alluring people into the war.

**Join the fight, join the cause, for Nohr’s safety and end in applause!**

What a cursed jingle. It’s like a lullaby for death – in a literal sense, being sent to die for a kingdom who _still_ did not properly care for its citizens nor their pleas concerning their way of life. 

Silas’ footsteps against the wooden boards of the docks creak as they trail themselves back to shore. A life at sea is more like it for him – he’s more of a hands-on guy, and he’s got some pride with his fishing skills he’s been able to hone as a child with innocent fishing trips with his late father, so he’s been able to financially sustain himself by providing his product of fish to the local market. His work is honest, and it proves to align to his views – as his coin doesn’t necessarily contribute to war expenses.

He mentally thanks the gods for the fishing business being one of the least taxed in the kingdom. 

In his large palm, is today’s income. One peek, and it shows him that it isn’t the best he’s ever had, but it’s enough for supplies that he’s running low on. Silas can’t really fathom how he seems to struggle nowadays with his hobby – his career even – and suddenly, he’s feeling melancholic. He’s not sure how long he can keep this up, but one thing’s for sure, he’s _definitely_ not caving into “ending in applause.” 

Pausing, he turns his body and makes a one-eighty, allowing a soft sigh to escape his lips. The sun’s beautifully setting, as if inviting him to enjoy what little left the sun can offer. 

The sight soothes him. When was the last time he was able to see such warmth that wasn’t baring from a candle? Relaxing his shoulders from tension he didn’t know he had been holding, Silas turns, and heads for the sandy shoreline. The brisk, wavy foam engulfs the sand as he trots through it, littering the beach with his footprints as he walks his way over to some nice boulders.

His footprints disappear as the ocean submerges them with its waves.

With gentle grunts, Silas easily pushes his weight along his arms, his palms balancing himself. Lifting himself off with ease, he finally plops onto the rough material, and manages to wince as he makes himself comfortable. The surface isn’t the nicest feeling on his bum, but he wiggles himself for a moment and then shrugs.

As he places the bag with his coins next to his left thigh, he folds his right leg up close to his chest, and struts his arm along his knee, letting it dangle lazily. His pine green eyes shift up to the view again, and he inhales softly at the beauty that is the setting sun, as it prepares to sleep.

And in all righteousness, it’s rather gorgeous. It’s peaceful. Serene.

He finds a smile crawling up his lips softly, and just for this one moment – allows that string of hope to somehow construct itself from the shambles that is Nohr. And in that moment, he allows himself to be prideful of being a Nohrian, like his father.

The sun’s just about disappearing, only barely creeping from the twilight. He’s overstayed his welcome, and it’s time to go back home – to go back to _reality_.

But just as he’s grabbing his little pouch, he has to double take as he shoots his head back up, squinting his eyes keenly at the view of what appeared to be a light splash.

His lips part, and he merely gazes for a long moment, as if anticipating for something.

Nothing happens.

Fish generally don’t linger around along the shore, he remembers, and shakes his head. The sun observing must’ve already gotten to him.

As he props himself up to his feet, he gingerly slides off the bounder and lands onto the sand with a small grumble and strolls back over to a reality he wished he didn’t have to live through. 

And he’s missed the audible splashing the woman makes as she curiously pops up from the surface of the water...


	2. Hallucination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's wondering if he's lost his mind.

As the days dread on, it feels like purgatory. The long, summer days drag slowly, and all Silas can think about is forcing himself to stay put to keep him well fed for another day.

He wistfully sits on his small boat, not a single hint of a nibble tugging at his casted line. Silas scowls, and instead, gazes along the crisp, calm waters. Surely, there was _something_ waiting to be caught by him…

He gazes at himself reflected into the surface of the ocean – its calling – and he suddenly wonders what it would feel like to be a part of the marine life, carefree without any responsibilities.

“Ah.” He shudders as he thinks about getting caught, sold, and eaten. That had quickly turned dark, even for his tastes. With a sharp turn, his eyes rip away from his reflection, and instead, looks back along the direction where land awaits his return.

Silas suppresses a sigh at the smoke he can see within the distance – though faint. Regardless, the fact that he _still_ sees it irritates him to no end. The little crease on his forehead deepens as he unintentionally frowns as his thoughts roamed.

Surely, the army would have to begin recruiting its citizens to fight with coercion.

The idea of being caught, sold, and eaten now didn’t sound so bad at all…

Boringly, he turns back over to the view of the ocean’s horizons, his palm pressed against his chin, as his elbow rested on his leg to balance himself. He nonchalantly tugs at the line, debating on calling it quits, when he abruptly blinks at the tiny bubbles that pop along the water around his line.

Silas peeks over – careful not to allow his weight to balance off his boat – and narrows his green eyes. This usually meant that there was a fish nearing for him to catch. 

Gripping his fishing pole, he decides to cut his losses for the day in hopes that he actually reels _anything_ in at this point so that he can go back home before he’s spotted by a recruiter. When he’s reeled in enough, his exhale of disappointment doesn’t bother to be subtle. He's caught nothing. The groan of annoyance echoes with the noise of waves forming. 

Pushing his pole to the side in his boat, he dips down and grips his face with his hands, allowing himself to wallow for a few moments with his dignity still intact.

 _Splash!_ The sudden splatter of the water causes his head to slip up, blinking.

It feels like everything has stopped. Time’s frozen, gravity’s paused, and his oxygen levels are suddenly gone.

In the water before him, was what appeared to be…silver hair. It was long, thick, and very healthy looking. _What an odd color_ , he muses to himself…

But then, reality hits him after a few seconds of his observant thoughts, and he parts his lips. “Excuse me-“ he blurts out in the calmest way possible. There was no way he wasn’t hallucinating. His brain suddenly loves playing tricks on him – and cruel ones – to add to the fact that there was someone merely swimming with ease in the cold water and didn’t need any help.

"Get ahold of yourself... It's not that serious..." Silas shakes his head, and closes his eyes shut tightly, and holds his position for five seconds, mentally counting, before he eases and lets his body release the tension he’s formed along his forehead. He opens his eyes slowly, and blinks.

Silence. Nothing. Loneliness.

“I…” He leans back, baffled. A bitter, dry chortle escapes him at the stupidity of it all. His mind is surely toying with him as punishment. Or perhaps it’s the long hours of the summer, doing nothing but watching the hypnotizing waters of the ocean and waiting for the bite of the day. It could even be the lack of food he’s had – skipping breakfast and only having a snack for lunch probably wasn’t the best choice to make. Regardless, the–

 _Splash!_  

Instantly, the loud noises yanks Silas out of his thoughts, and he gazes up. 

His lips part. His eyes widen, pupils expanding in utter surprise. He’s _completely_ numb to the core, glued to his spot, and all he can do is try and begin to process the image before him.

It was a beautiful, breathtaking young woman, with long, wet, silver hair that flowed down like a silk curtain. Bright, red eyes flash into his own through her long, black lashes, and pink lips part, exposing very tiny fangs. Along her slender neck, what appears to be a half-broken seashell clings within a line (it seems to be from a fishing line like his own), delicately complimenting her visible collarbones. Her smooth, pale complexion is admired all over from what he _sees_ , and the view’s very generous, though it's from the waist up, the rest hidden, camouflaged into the water...

It takes a moment, but his cheeks all but _burn_ at the sight, for there is almost _nothing_ properly covering what he’s being exposed to. Her hair _barely_ covers her chest, which is out in plain sight.

“Yo…yooou…” Is all he can splutter out before he abruptly turns his head, eyes clenched shut. His hands ball up into fists as he quickly yelps out, “Miss, you don’t have any _clothing_ , b-but I-I…!” He swallows hard. “Er… I-I mean…! Do you need help?! Are you lost?!”

All the woman does is gaze at him with a tilt of her head, not giving any answer.

Silas waits patiently, but when he doesn’t hear anything, he speaks again. His eyes are still tight and closed, so he’s hoping that she’s still listening when he says, “Can you understand me?”

“Mn.” She finally answers with a small hum. The tone seems playful.

“Oh, Gods,” he breathes out in relief. His arm raises up swiftly to his eyes to form a barrier between her and his eyes, and he grunts. “Do you need help?”

And for the first time, she gifts him with the sound of her gentle voice. 

“No.”

With his vision exposed with nothing but darkness, Silas can’t help but wonder if he’s still dreaming, hallucinating, or if he’s become the devil’s new plaything. 

Maybe if he closes his eyes shut tightly, she’ll disappear so that he can get back to reality, so he begins to count mentally to five…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! ❤️
> 
> So long story short - I kept rewriting and deleting this because I have a horrible habit that I've developed of overanalyzing my work (habit from my research), and I'll delete it if it sounds boring to me. It's something that I'm sloooowly weaving myself out of. 
> 
> I even kept researching mermaid lore but I had an epiphany moment and dropped everything and just typed what went in my mind and it just flowed nicely. djknfjshf
> 
> so I whipped this up in one sitting because IT'S FANFICTION AND IM NOT GETTING GRADED FOR IT HSJSDKSDHD and I feel bad for not updating quicker. but I hope you enjoy! :) 
> 
> (also Silas is a gentleman PLZ WE STAN)
> 
> \- xo stella


	3. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He finds out the basics of the young lady in the water.

_One…two…three…four…five…_

Silas lowers his arm from his face, eyes clenched shut. He stays in place, as if waiting for a command. All he hears are the gentle splashes and ripples of the cold water. With a part of his lips, he hesitantly speaks, “Hello…?”

“Hello.” The sweet voice responds, causing him to flinch slightly.

His left eye peers open, giving him a slight peek, and is baffled to see that the young woman’s still there, her head tilted slightly to the side and observing him as if _he_ were the oddball of their encounter. The fisherman can feel his heart race in anticipation, evidently flustered. Even from the slight peek, he’s seen more than her than he actually needed.

And he’s elated.

Without realizing, he opens both eyes to adjust to the glamourous woman before him. He still could not believe that she was even _real_ – how someone so _beautiful_ could cross his paths here, out of all places.

She’s approaching him, her fingers hesitantly gripping the edge of his small boat, and for a moment, seems to admire the cool material. Her bright eyes flicker up to Silas, tugging her body against the boat. Her arms dangle along the edge of the boat as she props her chin on it. Her full attention is on the male, her eyes dancing with curiosity.

All they do is stare. He’s not sure what to do. Silas is almost star-struck by her, her gorgeous pair of rubies, her potent face, her lovely _existence_ … His eyes finally break away from her gaze and trail down at the water that ripples around her.

Then, it hits him like a sack of bricks.

“Um… Are you okay?” he quickly blurts out rather apologetic. Sure, he can continue to stare and admire, but what if she needed help? What if she was stranded?

It really didn’t seem like it…

She arches a brow at this. “Yes. Are  _you_ okay?”

He blinks longer than necessary at the way she reverses his question back at himself. Was he really okay? Was he dreaming? Was this fishing session too long?

Silas answers after a moment too long, “Y-yes.”

The woman suddenly breaks into a giggle fit, evidently amused by his reactions. “Ah, I know what’s going on.” Without letting him answer, she cuts him off and continues. “You’ve never seen me before.”

Silas parts his lips and for a split moment, raises a finger, but is left speechless at his end. All he does is nod.

“My name is Corrin,” she introduces warmly.

“Silas,” he murmurs in reply.

 _Corrin_. A rather unusual name, he had to admit. It was, however, lovely. Easy to drip off the tongue. Fitting for her.

“Do you…perhaps need some help?” Silas offers, gesturing to his boat. “I can take you back to shore, help you locate your folks or your home. Or if you–”

Corrin’s smiling at him cutely and it makes his cheeks burn as he stutters out his offering. She shakes her head, the smile of hers hiding something that he hasn’t caught onto. It’s rather frisky. Like she’s done this before.

“Miss, I personally think th…tha…”

His eyes grow wide and his words fade into nothingness as she quietly leans herself to the side and pushes up what appears to be her legs up for him to get a good look. Except that there’s no legs.

There are _scales_.

She’s practically littered in them. The bright, holographic scales, a lovely transition of soft pink to gentle turquoise to a deep violet stack down neatly. It slims down to the end, where hints of a fish’s tail fin, which is also a dark violet, peeks up from the water.

Silas merely gawks, unable to put into words what he’s feeling. _Confusion. Bafflement. Amazement. Swooned._

 _Seemingly questioning life at this point_.

“Wh…what… what is…” He turns back to her face, as if asking for an explanation.

Corrin gives him a knowing gaze, as if telling him that what he’s probably thinking is actually correct.

A human. With what appeared to be a tail that was _not so_ human.

Silas almost wants to laugh. Of course, not to be rude, but the idea that what he’s thinking right this moment, could possibly be true. A _mermaid_ … That’s something that’s only told in folktales, something that is read to children before they are put to bed, something that’s in children’s books, something that seems so _unreal_ …

“Mermaid,” he whispers audibly. It seems fitting. Judging from what’s he’s heard and read, that’s what she most likely resembles.

Corrin nods, confirming his suspicions.

It takes all of his will not to ask to touch at her tail. Silas takes a moment, sitting back in place, and clutches his head. “Sorry, this is _a lot_ to take in…”

“Take all the time you need.”

He suddenly turns over to her, like a child being hyper-fixated on a simple distraction. “Wait, how do you understand me if you’re…well… _not_ human?”

Corrin turns over to him. The atmosphere’s growing with hints of tension and curiosity from both ends. And the next words that come out of her mouth cause him to freeze in place. 

“Because I _used to_ be human.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hm this isn't how I expected this turning, but oh well!


End file.
